1. In 1835, the Battle of Gonzales, considered the first battle of the Texas Revolution, took place on October 2. It was Texan rebels' successful attempt to retrieve a cannon that the Mexican government had previously loaned them for defense against Indian attacks, and the Texans used this battle cry, "Come and take it," to taunt their enemies.

2. In 1887, Sul Ross University, originally called Sul Ross Normal College, was opened in Alpine, Texas, thanks to Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross. It was the first teacher training institution in the newly established Texas 11th Supreme Judicial District.

3. In 1908, the first airplane to be flown in Texas was piloted by Willie Leigh of Fort Worth. He set a new altitude record of 4,400 feet (1,341 meters) over a section of land between Greenville and Rockwall, Texas.

4. In 1916, the inaugural State Fair of Texas opened on this day in Dallas. It was a two-week event that celebrated the agricultural and industrial accomplishments of the state.

5. In 2004, the SpaceShipOne, a piloted spacecraft designed by Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites, successfully won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private suborbital flight. The second successful flight, which took place on October 4, was piloted by Brian Binnie and soared to an altitude of 367,442 feet (112.01 km) above sea level.